Lawsuit: Diocese shouldn't have kept Kelly

Thursday

Sep 13, 2012 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - The attorneys for a 24-year-old former altar boy who says he was molested by removed Priest Michael Kelly say they want top officials of the Diocese of Stockton to be held accountable for Kelly's sex crimes.

The Record

STOCKTON - The attorneys for a 24-year-old former altar boy who says he was molested by removed Priest Michael Kelly say they want top officials of the Diocese of Stockton to be held accountable for Kelly's sex crimes.

"Why did (Bishop Stephen Blaire) allow this man to continue to minister?" said John Manly of the Newport Beach-based Manly and Stewart law firm.

Manly announced that the firm has filed a civil lawsuit against the Diocese of Stockton on behalf of the former altar boy referred to in court documents as John CC Doe at a news conference Wednesday in front of San Joaquin County Superior Court.

Manly also represented Travis Trotter, who agreed to settle his child sex-abuse civil case against the diocese and Kelly for $3.75 million in April. Trotter said he was raped by Kelly as a student and altar boy at Cathedral of the Annunciation. He said a lawsuit was his only way of obtaining justice, since the statute of limitations prevented criminal proceedings.

In the second suit naming Kelly, John CC Doe says he was about 12 years old when Kelly sexually assaulted him in the early 2000s. They both served at St. Andrew's Parish in San Andreas at that time.

"This is about justice and holding someone accountable," Manly said. "This is not just about money."

Manly said the next step is to serve the diocese and Kelly - if they can find him. Kelly returned to Ireland, his native country, amid the civil trial involving Trotter.

Paul Neumann, a member of an informal group called Friends of Father Kelly, says there are more than 1,200 people who still support the priest.

"We continue to believe that Father Michael Kelly is innocent of any wrongdoing, and we are confident that the facts, once known, will show his innocence," Neumann said in a written statement. "Our hearts go out to all victims of abuse, as well as to those wrongly accused and unfairly named."

Neumiller & Beardslee's Paul Balestracci, who represents the diocese, said he could not comment Wednesday since he had just obtained the civil complaint and was in the process of thoroughly reviewing it.